Order of the Red Arrow
"This Order has but one purpose, to do what must be done to ensure humanity's dominance, if that means some corrupt Imperial officials and ignorant zealots must die... then so be it."- Unknown Agent of the Order of the Red Arrow The Order of the Red Arrow is a mysterious and subversive organization that works for the "betterment" of mankind. They achieve this through heretical research and espionage against those they deem "Obstructive" to the furtherance of humanity's control over the stars. Often this means funding and hiding hereteks and renegade techpreists and the assassination or blackmail of government officials, all in the name of the organizations basic tenets, Order through Control, Power at any Cost, For the betterment of all Mankind. They are well armed and funded, not to mention extremely secretive. Such is the threat the pose to the current balance of power, that the Inquisition has begun a large effort to root them out, yet it remains an uphill battle so far. The Order of the Red Arrow infiltrate various areas of the Imperial military and political scene, and constantly attempt to undermine the authority of the Miniourtum, Mechanicus, and Inquisition, though not through Chaotic or Xenological means. Though the Orders initial goals of instilling order through the acquisition of absolute control may often attract those more obsessed with personal power than that humanities betterment, and true believers in the cause are few and far between, one cannot say the Order has not had a hand in more miraculous victories won in the name of the Emperor, from the mysterious assassinations of Chaos Cultists and Xenos Warlords across the Segmentum Ultima, to the defence of several worlds on the outskirts of the Imperium, all believed to have been brought about through the machinations of this shadowy organisation. That dose not however, discount all the criminal acts the group has done in order to achieve these small gains, espionage, assassination, and even outright rebellion, the slaughter of any who stand in their vision of an 'ideal' Imperium and their callous disregard for any who do not see their 'truth'. History Founding "Long have we upheld and fought for the Emperor's vision of order and reason, once we did so with His support...now we must do it from the shadows."- ''Unknown Red Arrow Oprtative The Order of the Red Arrow is believed to have its origins in the Great Crusades, within a small group of worlds known as the Buul Cluster in the Segmentum Solar. They were once a force of fanatical adherents to the Imperial Truth, and their Order was one of the Imperium's strongest backers within the Cluster, forming a large militant and political order. They assisted Imperial forces in conquering the Cluster, and were made the ruling body with the Emperor's personal blessing. They adopted a red arrow as their symbol, as it symbolized their militant support, and their unwavering loyalty to the Emperors ideals of order and reason. The Great Crusade The Order were foremost political and financial supporters of the Great Crusade within the cluster, and had various militant groups operating within the Imperial forces of the Great Crusade. These "Red Militants" were official soldiers, and, as they were funded by the Order, fought for the ideal of a unified humanity and spreading the Imperial Truth. Red Militants were formed into their own Regiments, known as the Buul Crusaders, and they were famously tenacious and experienced, as well as exeedingly well equipped. And in the golden age of the Imperium, the Order prospered and become a great political powerhouse in the Imperium as a whole. Soon their Red Militants were among the most well armed Imperial Army forces and the Buul Cluster was fabulously wealthy and a paragon of the Emperor's creed of progress and knowledge. The Horus Heresy The Horus Heresy hit the Order hard, as the Buul Sector was right in the Warmaster's warpath as his foul legions tore their way through the Buul Cluster, though the Order was capable of holding the line on its capital world of Buul Primus, much of the Cluster fell to daemonic monstrosities and horrific Chaos Space Marines. Yet they endured and survived, but for many, their faith in logic and reason had been lost the moment Horus' betrayal was made public knowledge. Even after Horus' demise and the forces of Chaos were driven off, the Order never managed to reclaim as devout a following as it had in the past. Imperial Reconstruction During the reconstruction, the Order attempted to seize greater political power in the power vacume. However, their attempts to monpolize vast stretches of Imperial Space through political intruge and even outright blackmail were formally rebuked by Guiliman himself, and this led to further damage to the Orders public image, many now seeing them as heartless scavangers grabbing at scraps in the wake of one of the greatest tragadies humanity had ever weathered. But few knew the true reason of the Orders agressive attempts to gain a larger foothold, instances of Emperor Cults were on the rise, and the Order knew that this would inevitably threaten their very existance. For centuries they attempted to undermine the development of these groups, yet after the chiding of Guiliman left them with a damaged public image, their power was severly curtailed and their influence was left on a scant few bastions outside of the Buul Cluster and the cluster itself. To this day the Order despises Space Marines of all stripes to this day due to the machinations of Guiliman, and hold them as little more than errant weapons who forget their true masters. Rise of the Church The Buul Rebellions The Exodus The Return At Present Ideals/Creed The Order still holds to the Imperial Truths now heretical creed of logic and reason over faith and superstition, and its members pride themselves on being well informed to the various 'inconvenient truths' that the Imperium hides from much of its people, such as the existence and nature of Chaos, the true strength of the xenos threat, and many, many other dark facts. The Order epitomizes total control and authority in order to achieve its goals, but espouses that it must be done as covertly as possible, and in an Imperium where the government only gets involved when tithes are on the line, this is not particularly difficult. When looking for a world potentially under the thumb of the Order, the Inquisition looks for needless authoritarian rule and a harsh regime of stiff penalties for anyone who dares disrupt the status quo. Worlds dominated by the Order tend to have the original ruling class, such as Hive World Spire Nobility and the like, in a state where they are cowed into submission, politically or otherwise, by the official ruling body. Though well funded and armed, the Order rarely acts in a public or outwardly aggressive manner, relying more on assassination and political maneuvering than the power of lasbolt and chainsword, however as various uprisings and planetary civil wars have shown, the Order is not above funding proxies or creating fronts to rally a war for their cause. Their own Operatives and Agents, especially the near mythical Red Militants, are forces to be feared, but are rarely seen ''en masse or at all. The Order is heavily monodominant, believing that only purestrain humans should enherent the Galaxy and holding even Space Marines as merely glorified and arrogent mutants. Organization The Order of the Red Arrow is a highly decentralized group, with no real head to govern their actions, yet they inexplicably maintain cohesion, working in an organized pattern of political conquest across the Segmentums Solar and the outskirts of Segmentum Ultima. The Order has no official hierarchy, and any supposed leadership comes more from their assumed political office for the sake of convenience. An Imperial Governor of an Order controlled world may very well be the brains behind the operation, but it is just as likely that it is the commander of the PDF or even a wealthy CEO of a local mining corporation. The Orders militant forces are much easier for the Inquisition to label however, though for the most part the Order uses witless scum and guns for hire as their muscle, they have an extremely well armed and trained force of soldiers more than willing to die and kill for their cause. Arrowheads The catchall term the Inquisition has coined for any assassin of the Order. Arrowheads may not be living weapons like their Imperial counterparts, but are often much more flexible in their mode of operation than those killers sanctioned by the Imperium. They are often trained from birth in secret solar fortresses or Order sponsored assassin covens, and are proficient in various arts of assassination, from sniping, infiltration, and poisoning. They are famously crafty and ruthless in the prosecution of their goals. Furthermore, they are all trained to blend seamlessly with the worlds masses, and some are even sleeper agents, implanted deep into the very fabric of the society, often extremely close to their target. Operatives Operatives are primarily the Orders eyes and ears, but are also known to be its low level enforcers and leaders of the uninitiated thugs that make up the bulk of the Orders public face. They often lack the extensive training the Arrowheads have, and do not excel in open combat as Agents and Red Millitants are, but are none the less potent henchmen of the Order. Operatives are usually ment to act within the public eye, only getting their hands dirty when the situation calls for it. Often they are members of the PDF or local law enforcement, and are the lowest millitant members of the Order that are aware of the group they so fanatically serve. Agents Experienced soldiers and professional hitmen,what agents lack subtly but make up for it in sheer skill and lethality. Agents are the Orders enforcers and professional soilders. They are rarely called upon, and more often than not act instead as "cleaners", tying up loose ends in the wake of Arrowheads. However, where Agents are ment to fight is in open combat, under the colors of Order proxies in civil wars and to act as their guiding hand in various Guard Regiments scarttered througought the galaxy. Red Militants (a.k.a) Buul Crusaders Unfathomably dangerous and highly skilled in various arts of combat, the Orders Red Militants, taking their name for the professional force of fanatics who fought for the Emperor in the Great Crusade, are without a doubt the most deadly forces the Order can bring to bear. Genetically enhanced, often vat grown, and heavily indoctrinated through various hypnotherapeutic and surgical methods, Red Militants are more hardwired attack dogs than human. Ruthless, cold, and borderline psychopathic, these born killers are armed with the best the lofty Order can provide, Hotshot Lasguns, advanced bionics, and highly reinforced carapace armor. Weapons/Technology Tactics The Order of the Red Arrow rarely resorts to full scale rebellion or war, instead infiltrating a world's infrastructure and political and social hierarchy, often through legitimate means. However, assassination, blackmail, and other more covert means are often utilized to secure absolute control. The Order never espouses its ideals to the public, preferring to hide under the guise of the established authority, thus they infiltrate the worlds local clergy and law enforcement, as well as political leadership. The Order is obsessed with control and order, and often instills these in the worlds they have taken over, once complete control is ensured in nearly every aspect of the planet, they turn it into a haven for their followers and siphon off resources to the greater whole of the organization. Their overall goal is to one day take over the Imeprium this way, piece by piece, world by world, though it is an unfathomably long and difficult task, it is the surest way they can ensure change, slowly but surely. The Order has contacts everywhere within the Imperial structure, even the Inquisition and within the Navis Nobilte Houses on Terra. Their influence is vast, but far from infinite. The Order is well aware of its weaknesses, and dose its best to avoid open conflict. Category:Excommunicate Traitoris Category:Human Category:Rebels